Ross ‘SHEZZ’ McSherry ‘First Light’ interview from Sidewalk 205

Share

“He was born and raised in a rough arse village in the sticks, but has ventured to slightly
more civilised pastures and is now a fellow ‘Carlukeoian’. I have seen him progress from a young skate rat whippet to full blown gangly legged, ginger ripper. He always skates to the limit, hucking out the biggest ollies, most floaty airs or longest grinds. The lad is a natural born skater. Another product of the harsh concrete of Livi skatepark: Oh and he can sometimes fix a car too.”
– Shralp Ya Bass

“Shezz is a lanky sorta guy, who is a member of the ginger army. He has the gangliest legs known to man and can ollie higher than the height of most midgets. He can skate everything and anything in his own way. He has also got some serious burning skills, which he does about every 20 minutes. All I can say is that Shezz is a f*cking ripper and I’m glad he’s a good homie. Jah bless.”
– Jah Ruler (Raberdeen)

First question lad – what made you want to skate?
– I was on a school trip to Germany, saw some guys skating in a local square and got hyped! Me and a few of the homies bought a board in a shitty German department store that day, but had to wait a few days till we were back before we could get a sesh!

Coming home tae Forth, (small village about an hour from Glasgow – total hole) must have been a bit of a bummer for a shred then? Or was it a case of hitting Carluke to get a skate?
– Forth sucked to get a skate for sure, we basically just bombed hills for a while then one day Tamo’s maw took us to Livi! From then on in it was Livi for the skate!

Your second love is definitely your modded dark navy Corsa… How much did it help having a whip to get you to the sesh?
– Having a car changed everything! We used to have to get a lift to Livi with my mum at 7:30am on her way to work and stay till 5:30pm regardless of the weather; once I got the car it was on! Skate missions every weekend!

Livi and Carluke skate scene back then was pretty tight. Who did you take inspiration from?
– I always took inspiration from the older guys at Livi: Ben, Stu, Sprocket and all those guys, most of them still rip too! Carluke homies as well, skating with Colin and Div always helped, beer fuelled hype sesh!

You’re a mechanic by trade and I know you’ve gone through a few cars. What are the best and worst you have had?
– (Laughs), aye, went through a phase of swapping them, started with a Corsa and ended up with a Beemer! The best one was the bright yellow Saab turbo for sure! Worst one and the one I’m ashamed to say I owned was the Saxo! Never, ever again!

Any secret tips from the mechanic world?
– Best tip is don’t take your car to a garage! Hit up your local skate mechanic!

Jumping forward to skating now, where’s your favourite places tae hit for a shred?
– It’s usually Edinburgh (Saughton) for the sesh or the new Livi, or on the wet nights it’s the hour and a half trek to North Berwick! Worth it every time though!

What do you make of the new Livi section anyways?
– I’m down for the new section, it’s hard to ride and a bit sketchy in places, but that kinda fits into the Livi I know and love!

Thursday club is a staple up here, you a preacher?
– Thursday is the best night for it; everyone makes the effort on a Thursday! I’m currently missioning out on the Sunday service from a Thursday club injury!

What’s the best thing for warming up your massive legs pre skate?
– Serious zootage to get the legs warmed up, tried stretching a few times, possibly need to do that more!

What’s it like with Div back in Scotland and shredding like f*ck again?
– Div being back is sick: him and Colin are my neighbours! So good to skate with him again, he has the best imagination in skateboarding!

Who else has been killing it up here recently?
– Recently there’s been a lot of homies killing it, Chris Weir, Dunder, Wu Tang Shaun, Colin Adam (of course). But most of all, all the OG shredders: Mark Burrows, Russ Hall, Colin Kennedy, etc. They still show us how it’s done!

You acquired a new pet for your flat recently – what is it and what was it called?
– It’s a bearded dragon called Agnes; it was Angus until she laid eggs and then we realised it was female, so it had to be Agnes.

What rig you skating these days?
– Currently skating a Creature 9”, Indy 169s and Bones 56s. Full size rig!

Shout outs?
– Shout outs to all the homies and anyone who has ever helped me out along the way!
Shouts to Lemon Farm! Praise Jah!

Newsletter Terms & Conditions

Please enter your email so we can keep you updated with news, features and the latest offers. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. We will never sell your data and you'll only get messages from us and our partners whose products and services we think you'll enjoy.